Search the Thief
by Gerhuvn
Summary: Peter makes a mistake in how he handles his consultant. This story is set around the time of S01E05 when their partnership is still developing. Peter often reminded Neal of his tenuous probation and threatened to send him back to prison sometimes in lighthearted banter, other times in dead seriousness. This is a story of what could have happened on a case during that time.


It has been a long time since I posted my first and last story! But I cannot say I have left the world of White Collar completely. Over the past years, I have re-watched the show (sometimes more often than other times) and I have kept up with the stories on this site. I still have a few of my own sitting on my computer in various states of completion and this is the first (I hope not the last) which I have taken up again.

I started writing this story in 2011, today I finished it. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own White Collar or its characters.

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Search the Thief

"That was completely uncalled for," Neal indignantly told Peter as they walked out of the jewelry store which was the focal point of their new case.

It was his answer to Peter's question of what was the matter with him. Neal had not spoken unless when asked a direct question, had not offered any ideas or thoughts of his own accord in a while and as Peter had said they were leaving the crime scene, Neal had followed his handler without protest. He had caught Peter eyeing him strangely then and now that Peter had asked him directly, it was clear to Neal that the agent had indeed caught onto the fact that something wasn't quite right.

Although Neal answered his question, it did not clarify anything for Peter. Peter turned to look at his partner and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not immediately understanding what Neal was talking about and thus asked, "What?"

Neal looked at him, his eyes narrowing, wondering if the FBI-agent really did not know why Neal was angry with him. When Peter continued to give him a blank look in anticipation of the answer, Neal sighed in exasperation and replied, "You frisked me!"

He couldn't help his voice from rising in volume, enough to turn a few heads as they made their way towards their car which was parked farther down the street.

"That's why you're mad?" Peter wondered, getting his answer to what was bothering Neal though he did not understand why.

"You _frisked_ me," Neal repeated indignantly as if further elaboration was unnecessary, the answer he'd provided explained enough.

"With good reason," Peter countered, not seeing anything wrong with how he'd handled the situation.

They hadn't been working together for very long and both were still getting used to their unusual partnership. Their contradictory backgrounds, being from opposite sides of the law, might be the reason they complemented each other and thus made them a successful duo in closing cases. However, it wouldn't be realistic if their working together did not, for precisely the same reason, also cause clashes.

Neal's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he stopped walking abruptly, turning to face his partner, "Really?" he wondered in disbelief.

"You were hovering around an already smashed case full of diamonds, while the items which were taken had been displayed in a case on the other side of the store. You had no business being over there and you have quick hands," Peter pointed out, his facial expression clearly said 'tell me I'm wrong'.

"I was inspecting if anything else had been taken and checking out camera angles and possible escape routes while trying to figure out how the thieves got away clean," Neal countered in defense. " _You_ checked my pockets in front of everyone!" he added angrily, putting emphasis on his first word as he pointed accusingly at his partner.

"Neal," Peter began in his 'are you forgetting you're a criminal and I have the right to be suspicious' tone.

"You could have at least waited until we were out of the store," Neal huffed as he turned away and started walking in the direction of their car, whilst choosing to ignore Peter's slightly accusing and righteous tone of voice.

The recent revelation that Peter checked Neal's anklet on a daily basis hadn't gone over very well. Though, Neal was willing to admit he had done a few things recently that certainly warranted Peter's suspicion, the agent didn't need to openly embarrass him.

"Sure and give you time to hide it more carefully," Peter said as he went after Neal, catching up to him quickly but missing what this was really about.

"Hide what? There was _nothing_ for you to find because I didn't take anything."

"I couldn't be sure of that."

Neal just shook his head in pure frustration. His anger resurfaced as he thought back to what had transpired.

" _Spread your arms," Peter demanded, seemingly out of nowhere. Neal was inspecting the case that had been damaged the most after the heist despite it appeared that nothing had been taken from it by the thieves. When he turned around to check out the next case the jewels had been taken from he found himself suddenly face to face with his handler._

" _Excuse me?" he returned baffled._

" _Come on," Peter spurred, lifting Neal's arms with ease as the latter was too shocked to resist._

 _Although Peter made quick work of checking Neal's pockets, before patting him down to make sure he hadn't taken a souvenir of the crime scene, to Neal it felt like it went on forever._

 _And while Peter seemed oblivious to the rest of the agents in the store who one by one turned towards them to see what was going on, it was something Neal was painfully aware of. It took a lot out of him to stay still and to keep his face neutral._

" _You satisfied?" he asked sarcastically, jerking his arms when Peter finally ceased his search and stepped back. However, Neal didn't move yet, waiting for Peter's nod of confirmation before he lowered his arms._

" _Glad I could make your day," he added, sarcasm still there to mask what he was really feeling._

 _Peter didn't reply and went on with his investigation, the one he'd ceased to search Neal, while Neal though momentarily frozen in shock forced his legs to move. The conman put on a carefree and proud mask whilst feeling anything but and continued like nothing had happened._

 _This was not the time nor place to confront Peter and the last thing he wanted to do was voice his thoughts in the middle of the circus of agents crawling about. It would only make matters worse but he couldn't deny it affected him._

"You treated me like a suspect," Neal said, still not letting it go as the scene concluded in his head. They had reached the car at this point but while Peter unlocked the car and walked around to the driver's side, he didn't open his door to get in.

"Because you were acting like one," he replied over the roof of the car.

"I was not, I was only doing my job!" Neal shot back, pulling the passenger door open with perhaps a bit more force than was necessary.

"So was I," Peter countered, but Neal snorted angrily and dismissed the agent's reply with a wave of his hand before he got in the car and slammed the door shut.

Peter let out a growl as Neal's anger and this particular conversation frustrated him. He didn't really understand what Neal was getting so worked up over and he certainly didn't appreciate Neal giving him attitude about searching his consultant, something he felt he'd been justified in doing. Especially since he, being Neal's handler, was personally responsible for the conman and his missteps.

The agent gripped the handle of the car door, his knuckles turning white, and tried to calm himself down somewhat but the deep breaths he took did little to dissipate his negative feelings. He gave up and opened his door to get in, his movements jerky and more aggressive than he'd been going for.

"Caffrey," Peter began in a low tone of voice, picking up the conversation where they'd left off. He did not make eye contact, instead staring straight ahead to the car that that was parked in front of them, and him using the conman's last name clearly indicated he was running low on patience.

"You know what, just forget it," Neal bit back angrily, done with the conversation. His anger and frustration had only grown since starting this discussion and apparently it was preventing him from making himself understood. The only thing it accomplished was fruitless bickering and he'd had enough.

"You won't understand," he added softly, wearily and resigned, slumping in his seat.

Neal's sudden change in attitude made obvious by the tone of his voice caused Peter to turn towards the consultant suddenly.

"Won't understand what?" Peter asked, a feeling in his gut suddenly creeping over him that he had missed something important. Because he knew from the couple of months he'd spent working so closely with Neal that his partner didn't give up so easily.

Neal shook his head in dismissal, "Let's just drop it." Although his reply was short, it wasn't harsh, just resigned.

It told Peter he needed to keep pressing, this was important to Neal, "No, not until you tell me what's going on."

Neal remained silent, only stared ahead.

"Neal." The use of his first name and the way Peter said it this time communicated, requiring no additional words, the agent was ready to listen.

Neal again did not reply at first but Peter waited and finally Neal turned to face him, "I already told you," Neal said simply.

Peter's eyebrows knitted in confusion, _dammit he had most definitely missed something._

He thought back over the conversation they'd just had and came up with just one thing, "You're angry I searched you, but Neal you are a warden of the state, I had every right to do so."

"That's not it, it's not about you having the right but thanks for pointing that out _again_ ," Neal replied, getting angry again. Apparently Peter was ready to listen, but he did not hear him.

Peter waited for Neal to elaborate but when he remained silent, not willing to or perhaps not knowing how to continue, Peter resumed his thinking out loud in the hopes of figuring out what was wrong.

"I still don't understand why it bothers you so much, it's not like it was the first time you've been searched," he started, however inadvertently hitting the nail on the head, when he added, "I did it myself when we arrested you and you must have been subjected to it in prison."

"Yes, in _prison_ ," Neal retorted bitterly.

Neal sat up suddenly and the anger in his voice from before returned at once and in full force as he replied, "But _never_ in front of people I have to work with on a daily basis."

Peter opened his mouth to reply however Neal wasn't finished yet.

"Never in front of people whose respect I'm trying to earn. Never in front of people to whom I want to prove I can be a valuable member of the team instead of just some criminal they have to keep an eye on and whose silver tongue landed him this sweet deal he doesn't deserve. It'd been going pretty well, they are slowly starting to accept me instead of just tolerate me and then _you_ stomp over to me, spread my arms before frisking me and suddenly I'm the convict again."

"Oh," Peter breathed, realization finally dawning on him. He understood now why Neal was angry with him as he fully comprehended the error he'd made, not necessarily in making sure Neal hadn't taken anything but that he'd done it in such a public way. Despite the fact that Peter hadn't found anything on Neal, the insinuation of guilt was enough to nullify most if not all of Neal's previous efforts to gain the respect and trust of the other agents.

He definitely knew now that he should have been more subtle. However, subtlety had never been his forte and surely Neal knew this about him by now. Nonetheless, he was very aware of the fact that he should have handled it differently; he could have pulled Neal aside to another room, out of sight before he searched him. But he hadn't thought about the implications at all, he'd just acted on instinct when he spotted Neal near a case he had no business of being close to.

Neal didn't respond, he looked away from his partner, still fuming.

"Look, Neal," Peter began finally though not confidently and it was obvious he was struggling to say the right thing.

Neal wasn't sure if the agent was going to try to justify what he'd done again but if he was, Neal surely wasn't going to listen to it.

Peter must have seen the expectant yet weary look Neal was giving him, the thoughts projected on the conman's face, because as he drew in a breath to continue, he instead fell silent.

Neal turned away again, expecting Peter to give up and start the car.

It took another moment before Peter tried again. After giving himself a moment to review the situation, he realized there was only one thing he could say.

"I'm sorry," he offered genuinely. "I didn't look at it from your perspective and I should have."

Neal, having slowly turned his head in surprise at hearing Peter's apology, met Peter's truly remorseful eyes and then finally nodded in acceptance. He wasn't going to say it was alright because it wasn't but he did understand where Peter was coming from and he also knew he couldn't really blame the agent for it, that wouldn't be fair, however it did bother him that it bothered him.

"I'm always going to be a criminal in your eyes, aren't I?" he asked and he sounded hurt as if it weren't his own life choices which had made him one. However, Peter didn't think this was a good time to point that out.

"It's going to take time, Neal," he answered instead and it was the truth. Peter never lost sight of who Neal was but that didn't mean he also didn't see what Neal could become and Peter believed the conman did have potential otherwise he never would have agreed to the deal in the first place.

"Look, this is new for me too, alright?" Peter continued, explaining his point of view. "I have never worked so closely with a con…"

Peter paused for only a second, enough for Neal to fill in with a bit of the anger returning, "Convicted felon."

"A _consultant_ ," Peter corrected pointedly but kindly while Neal examined his handler, trying to assess if he believed the older man. "Just give me time to adjust."

"It isn't always easy for me either, you know," Neal told him and at Peter's seemingly clueless expression elaborated, "I normally don't make it a habit to hang around FBI agents, let alone work with them."

"Hmph," Peter smiled, "I know."

Silence filled the car now that they both knew where they stood.

The tension dissipated, Peter finally turned the key and started the car. He pulled out into traffic only moments later while Neal looked out the window at the passing scenery.

"So no more random searches?" Neal inquired after a few minutes of silence, looking for assurances.

Peter briefly glanced over to Neal, "Not without probable cause," he allowed, not willing to promise something he wasn't sure he could keep. It was within his jurisdiction and he could not foresee if he needed to resort to this measure in the future, that was up to Neal.

Neal sighed in disappointment.

"But not in public," Peter added, this particular assurance was a promise he would keep.

Neal nodded, consenting, "Alright." He could live with that. Because he knew he'd gotten lucky that Peter had been willing to make a deal with him. Random searches of his living quarters and pat downs could have been part of his daily routine had it not been for Peter.

"It will take time for me to trust you," Peter admitted after a moment of silence.

"You trust me to have your back," Neal countered. Then more unsure, "Right?"

"I do," Peter confirmed without hesitation, "I just don't trust you with valuables around."

"I told you I can handle it."

"You mean when you said you could handle temptation?" Peter asked, referring to the Haustenberg case. Before supplying the answer to the question himself to make his point, "And then you stole the painting."

"You know why I did that, I wasn't gonna…" Neal defended, using the exact same words as when he'd sat at Peter's dining room table confessing to having stolen the Haustenberg.

Peter held up a hand, similarly to the way he'd done when Neal had just confessed to taking the painting. "I know."

"I'm not gonna risk losing this and going back to prison for a few diamonds."

Peter studied Neal, and nodded once as he decided he believed the younger man.

"Now for a painting," Neal began, pausing for effect, "That's a different story," he added with a teasing smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

Peter only looked at his partner, and though he was glaring at Neal, there wasn't the slightest bit of menace in his eyes and his tone was light as he countered, "Do I need to search you again?"

 _The End_


End file.
